


The Space You Left

by TwoGayShitsWhoWrite



Series: Adventures of the Emperors [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Friends, Don’t copy to another site, Emperor Husbands, Established Friendship, Fake Character Death, Friends to Lovers, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), M/M, Past Relationship(s), Post-Thor (2011), Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-10-10 12:30:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17425928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoGayShitsWhoWrite/pseuds/TwoGayShitsWhoWrite
Summary: Lotor and Loki met when they were young and quickly became friends. Over the years they grew closer and closer, eventually developing feelings for each other. But when Loki dies before either of them can confess, where will that leave Lotor?





	1. Shock of a Lifetime

This was it. He was heading back to Asgard, he’d finally be able to confess to Loki.

Lotor was no longer sure when the feelings had started. He only knew that at some point he’d started having to hold back the urge to strangle Fandral when he came near Loki back when they were still together.

“Acxa, how long until we arrive in Asgard?”

“Ten doboshes, sir.”

“Aw look at that he can’t wait to see his boyfriend.”

“Ezor.”

“Sorry sir!”

“Are we gonna have to stay on the ship? Or can I go pound thunder boy’s face in for a while?”

“As long as you don’t throw him through another wall you may do as you like Zethrid.”

She began celebrating as he sat back on his throne in thought. Truly it had been too long since he’d seen his little Jötunn, ever since he’d been exiled it had become harder and harder to return to Asgard without being stopped by other Galra assigned there to keep him away and protect the one actual alliance his father had kept up after the rift incident.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a little probe in his mind from Narti.

“ _Sir we’re about to land.”_

 _“_ I will be heading out first. It seems as though Thor has something he wants to discuss, I will say on the comms when you may follow.”

A chorus of yes sirs were heard as he left to meet the thunderer. Thor was… interesting, he never knew quite what to make of him. He was a very skilled combatant, with or without the bonus of magical powers. However he was also cocky, brash, rude, self centered, and several other qualities that made himself and Loki wonder why anyone thought he was so perfect and why he was the crown prince.

“Thor, wonderful to see you again.”

“Lotor. The same to you my friend, come… I- uh have some news for you.”

“Can it wait? I need to speak with Loki.” Lotor knew something was wrong now, Thor visibly cringed at the mention of his brother. Even at the worst times in their relationship he still loved his brother in his own way.

“That’s the thing.. the news is about him… let’s go on your ship… you’re not gonna wanna hear this out in the open.”

“Fine. But you **will** tell me. And if you did anything to him that will be the end you Thor. Are we clear?”

“Completely.”

They walked back up to the control room.

“Prince Lotor, Prince Thor; why are you back? You could have just told us to join you over the comms.”

“Well apparently Thor has some news regarding our favorite trickster that he does not wish to say in front of anyone who may hear us. Talk Thor.” He spat out, he never had much patience for the god but now he was keeping him from seeing Loki.

“It is a long story… I was being stupid and tried to invade Jotunheim, Odin came to save us and banished me. While I was gone he was fell into the Odinsleep and Loki was placed on the throne in his absence… eventually I managed to come back and found Loki attempting to destroy Jotunheim with the Bifrost… I had to destroy the bridge and in the process we were blown off. Odín awoke just in time to save us… Loki…… slipped… he’s gone I’m sorry.”

Lotor froze. It couldn’t be. Loki couldn’t be… gone.

“You’re lying. You’re lying!”

“I wish I were Lotor… I wish. I were. I am so beyond sorry that this happened. If there is anything at all I can do for you to help…”

“Leave.”

“Are you sure? Having someone to help through you grief can-”

“I. Said. Leave!”

He nodded and walked out. Lotor was doing his best to not collapse to the ground and just cry.

“We’re leaving. Now.” No arguments were heard the generals simply got the craft ready for flight.

“Any particular place, sir?”

“Just away from here. I will be retiring to my quarters for the evening. I do not wish to be disturbed, I am I understood?”

“Of course sir… you do not need to hide how you feel with us you know.”

But he did not answer because he was already going to his quarters as fast as he could.

As soon the door was closed he slid down to the ground, hand covering his sobs and tears pouring out of his eyes. Loki couldn’t be gone… there was no way… he had to have survived somehow. He couldn’t be… couldn’t be… had to be alive.

He was spiraling deeper into his thoughts.

Hyperventilating.

Gripping and pulling his hair.

Rocking back and forth.

He opened his mouth expecting a scream of pure agony but if he did make such a sound he did not hear it.

His generals knew how he would probably try to come in but he didn’t care.

He couldn’t think.

Couldn’t breath.

Tears pouring down.

Vision going black.

He passed out. Still crying. And now dreaming of times long gone with his beloved Loki.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_He was in the throne room of his father’s main ship awaiting a meeting with him._

_“Prince Lotor, we will be traveling to Asgard soon to review our alliance with them. You will come with me to secure the favor of the princes Thor and Loki. Do not disappoint me.”_

_“Yes father.” He saluted and the scene changed._

_He was now in the great hall of the Asgardian Palace, Odin stood in front of him and his own father was behind him._

_“Emperor Zarkon, Asgard welcomes you back.”_

_“Odin, I am elated to be back in these halls.” Lotor knew the statement was false but he also knew better than to say so._

_“Is this the child you mentioned?”_

_“Yes, this is Prince Lotor.”_

_“He looks like his mother.”_

_A clawed hand tightened painfully on his shoulder. Why was his appearance so terrible to his father?_

_“Yes, I suppose he does.”_

_“Why don’t we allow the children to get to know each other while we negotiate?”_

_His father gave a nod to him signifying that he could join the two princes._

_The blond one was loud and enthusiastic to meet him whereas the black-haired one was more withdrawn, seeming to let the blond lead the conversation as if he had no choice in the matter._

_The three had been walking around the halls of the castle, Lotor learned that the blond one’s name was Thor and that the black-haired one’s was Loki. He quickly decided that he prefered Loki over Thor._

_“After that, I summoned my hammer and-” Lotor raised his hand to interrupt, “I’d like to know what Loki would like to do. Forgive me for saying so but I get the sense that he is experiencing the same amount of boredom as I am listening to your war stories.”_

_Thor looked surprised but recovered quickly. He then placed a hand on Loki’s shoulder, “What would you like to do brother?” Loki shrugged off his brother’s hand, “I would like to go to the garden,” his green eyes flicked to Lotor’s, “If you would be okay with that.” Lotor felt a smile involuntarily tugging on his lips as he held out his arm towards Loki. Loki’s face brightened and he wrapped his arm around Lotor’s, immediately starting towards the garden he spoke of. Thor followed behind them. It was evident that Thor grew tired of following the two as they spoke since he had gone running towards the training grounds, quickly yelling, “I’ll see you both in a few hours!”_

_Once they reached the garden, Lotor and Loki had stumbled onto the subject of magic and sorcery._

_“You can do magic? That’s amazing! I wish could do that.”_

_“I suppose I could teach you… are you sure you wouldn’t rather go off and train with Thor?”_

_“I spend all day training on the ship, I would rather spend my time away doing what I do not normally get to do.”_

_“Do you not mean at home?”_

_Lotor winced, he hadn’t mean to let his feelings about that place slip at all. “Yes, yes. That’s what I meant, slip of the tongue.”_

_Loki narrowed his eyes, clearly not believing him. But to Lotor’s delight he did not press the issue any further._

_“Well then, is there anything else you do not normally have time to do?”_

_“I don’t get to spend much time in the library.”_

_“You have great taste in activities.”_

_Loki stood up and offered his hand, “Would you like to peruse ours?” Lotor smiled and nodded. Taking his hand, he started to stand up but was almost hit with a spear, a “sorry” was shouted from the direction it came from._

_An obviously fit man in light armor was running towards them, Lotor’s eyes went directly to the blond mustache-goatee combo that sat on his lower face. He guessed that he was the owner of the spear that almost hit him._

_“Ah Loki, hope I didn’t hit you. Who’s this?”_

_“This is Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire, Lotor this is Fandral of the Warriors Three. My boyfriend.”_

_Lotor scanned Fandral, assessing him more closely. He didn’t seem to be much, only thing that Lotor thought that may have caught Loki’s eye would’ve been his title._

_Lotor held out his hand anyways, “It is an honor to meet you Fandral of the Warriors Three.”_

_“Please, please. Just call me Fandral. It’s great to meet you as well Prince Lotor.”_

_“We were about to go to the library if you would like to join us?” Loki looked hopefully towards Fandral._

_“I’m afraid I have to continue beating your brother’s ass or else he’ll gloat about it for ages that I supposedly yielded for time with you.” Fandral spoke as he plucked the spear from the soil._

_Fandral gave Loki a far too passionate kiss for the moment and ran off to the training grounds._

_“I am sorry if that made you uncomfortable, he gets possessive quite easily.”_

_“It’s fine. Let’s just go to the library.”_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

It had been over four vargas since any of the generals had seen their prince. So Acxa and Narti went to make sure he was okay, he may not show much emotion but anyone could see how much he loved Loki.

A light knock on the door, “Sir, are you okay? Is there anything you need?”

Silence. “Narti, check his brain waves see if he’s awake.”

_”He is asleep, it seems he may have had a panic attack.”_

“Is he physically alright otherwise?”

_”Yes he seems to be fine, though he may appreciate being moved to the bed as I doubt he went there himself.”_

They opened the door only to have Lotor fall back towards them due to the position he passed out in. He had been exhausted of all energy seeing that the fall didn’t wake him up and who could blame him? He’d just lost the closest friend he’d ever had, he’d lost him before anything else could blossom, before he could even see if the possibility of anything happening was real.

They picked him up and moved him to the bed. Smoothed his hair out and just in general made him as comfortable as they could.

“I wish there was more we could do for him.”

” _As do I but you know how much Loki meant to him, that isn’t something you can get over easily.”_

“I know. And I also know that when he is ready we'll all be here for him. He wasn’t the only one to care for the prince after all.”

_”Certainly, but the most we can do for him now is helping in little way like this and making sure he takes care of himself.”_

_“_ You’re right.”

Acxa and Narti left him to rest but not before Acxa sent a concerning look towards their prince and closed the door.

As they both walked back to the lounge area of the ship, Ezor’s voice could be heard.

“Are you sure he was actually going to tell him this time? I mean everytime we come here, he ended up chickening out?”

She quickly shut up at the sight of Acxa and Narti, a concerned face replaced her usual happy one, “How is he?”

“Not well, he was passed out on the ground. I’m afraid he’s going to need more time than we originally thought.”

“I’m not surprised, I know if Ezor died I wouldn’t be able to do anything for at least a phoeb.”

Shocked faces and silence. “What? I know I’m not normally the feelings one but I’ve grown close to you guys, Ezor especially, in these past thousand deca-phoebs.”

“Awww you like me!”

“Ye-Yeah, but that’s not the point right now. The point is we need to help Lotor right now.”

“Zethrid is right. We should give him time to work through his feelings before trying to rush him back to his usual self.”

“How will we know when he’s had enough time?”

“We won’t Ezor. But he still needs time… we all do really, I know he was not the only one among us to care for Loki. And we can all take time to grieve. What is important is eventually moving on and dealing with your feelings and not just drown in sadness.”


	2. The Pain Of Living And Grieving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki wishes he’d died when he fell.
> 
> Lotor isn’t sure if he wants to live without Loki

Loki awoke to darkness. Where was he? He should be dead… was this death? Probably not, he could feel what he was laying on… and now there was the pain of the fall setting in. He set his magic to fixing himself as much as he could and tried to see where he was from his limited vantage point on the ground.

A sound, feet approaching.

Then a voice clearly trying not to be heard, “It landed over here, surround the crater and approach with caution.”

Wasn’t it just his luck to be ambushed right now?

He went over his available options to escape but most needed more time than what he had. His thoughts were interrupted by a face appearing over him.

Their headgear was a dull gray with a gold strip lining their crown, framing their face down to their neck was reminiscent of a ribcage, their face was covered by a gold plate on the temple and a gray mouthpiece with various holes. The sickly green eyes of the soldier stared at him, blinking in what seemed to be anger as Loki stared back without a word.

Now, Loki was being lead by these ugly monsters to whoever their leader is. They didn’t handcuff or restrict him in anyway which means that they’re capable of catching him if he tried to escape or simply had not thought of it. The former was most likely by the way they shoved him around when he lacked the energy to keep up. He did just fall from a black hole after being beaten by Thor, again.

Honestly why couldn’t Thor just see it his way for once? And why did Thor fall for that measly human? He wonders how Odin even allows this of the child he wants as king- Not that Odin would ever allow Loki to rule Asgard as king, how did he never see it? How did he not know that he was adopted? Not even, he was stolen for a chance of a peace offering. He continued on this line of thought until he was brought to the foot of a large throne.

“Sir we have found what fell from the sky.”

A gravelly voice answered him, “Good. Let me see the creature.”

“I am no creature you foul beasts! I am a god!” He shouted as the throne turned around. “Silence wretch.” He was hit on the back with something and knocked onto his hands and knees.

He was left wheezing on the ground trying not to show too much weakness to these beasts. When he saw something big and purple come under his chin to lift it up. He allowed it, best to see if he knew anything about it that could be of use in an escape after all… and found it was not something he knew. Not immediately at least, he was certain he’d recognize it with time.

“So, you’re the one that fell to my planet?”

“Unhand me. You have no right to lay your hands upon the rightful King of Asgard.”

“A King? I suppose that does make you rather special doesn’t it? Perhaps you could help my goal.”

Loki stiffened, he was going to be used as a pawn in yet another person’s game. This could not be allowed again. “I would never help the likes of you, foul wretch.”

“That’s too bad. I never said you had a choice though, you’ll see reason eventually.” He looked to the creature that had introduced Loki to him, “You know what to do with him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’d been one movement since Loki’s death. Lotor wasn’t doing any better. He barely left his bed, much less his quarters. The generals would bring him food at mealtimes, he would eat barely enough to survive.

He sat in bed, wondering if he could have saved him if he were there. If anything he could have done to prevent the whole situation from even happening. If there was a reason to live…

He spent so much time looking back on happy memories. Sometimes they helped, sometimes they made him even more sad, sometimes his emotions were just too complicated to want to think about them at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_They were in Loki’s room, he was showing Lotor some magic. “And that’s how I make the knives come out of nowhere.”_

_“That’s amazing Loki! Is there anything else you can do?” His eyes were sparkling in amazement._

_Loki seemed shocked, “Y-You really want to learn magic? Are you sure?”_

_“Why wouldn’t I want to learn? It’s amazing what you can do with it… and you know how much I wish to connect more with my Altean heritage.”_

_He bit his lip, “Okay. But you must be aware that in Asgard spellwork is seen solely as a woman’s craft.”_

_Lotor scoffed, “You know I do not care what people think of me that much. I want to learn and so I will.”_

_And so Loki began teaching him magic. They started with basic things like simply manifesting your power in the first place. Here is where they first encountered trouble._

_“Why is it not working?! I am concentrating just as you said and nothing is happening!”_

_“Lotor this is your first time ever attempting to practice magic. I never said it would be easy. Even if you were fully Altean you would likely struggle some on your first attempt.”_

_“But I have never seen you struggle even with trick you claim are newer.”_

_“That would be because I have been practicing magic for years. Once you have a base to build on the rest is easier to learn.”_

_He sighed and laid across the prince’s bed, “What do you suggest then? We can never know when I will next return, I need something to practice while I am away if I am to do this.”_

_“Think happy thoughts.” Lotor him a deadpan look, “I am serious. Think of moments when you have been your happiest. When I first started learning my mother always told me that the best magic comes from the happiest of memories.”_

_Lotor didn’t exactly have many of those… though there was one that could perhaps work._

_“If you need an example the memory I use the most now, is the time when I tricked Thor by turning into a snake because he loves snakes and then stabbing him.”_

_Lotor laughed aloud, “I think I may have one that will work.”_

_“Care to share my little elf?”_

_“I think that when I adopted Kova is the perfect choice.” Loki nodded in agreement and so Lotor began trying to do something with his magic._

_He concentrated on the memory, the cat coming up to him, feeling it’s fur for the first time. Scratching behind his ears, it was starting to work he could feel his hand beginning to tingle with magic. He is with Kova, in the Asgardian throne room, he is greeting the princes for the first time. Strange Kova was not there for that, he was walking through the palace gardens with Loki looking at all the greenery surrounding them. Even more magic, he could almost feel it leaving his skin and collecting into a concentrated ball of the stuff._

_Kova was entirely gone from the memory now. It was entirely the first time he’d met his little kitten now. He opened his eyes to see a glowing purple orb above his hand. “I-I did it! Loki I did it.”_

_“See. Told you you could do it my little elf. Now try to shape it, you might be able to do it by just grabbing and pulling at it but I cannot guarantee it.”_

_He took the advice and attempted to manually pull it, and it manage to deform it orb a little but not much. Unused to the exertion from magic he soon felt his legs give out from under him._

_Loki muttered a swear under his breath as he caught him, “Next lesson will be how to draw energy from your surroundings instead of yourself.”_

_“Good idea. But sleep first.” He leaned back so they both fell onto the bed and promptly relaxed against the other prince._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zethrid was worried about the Prince. It’d been almost a phoeb since Loki died, Lotor switched between leaving his room only eat and drink a little and going to train nonstop. They all missed the other prince. Every single one of them had cried over him, though Zethrid would never admit she had.

They all tried to continue on as normal. Even though once their daily duties were, Zethrid at least, spent time reminiscing on the young Prince.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_She was on a ship, Prince Lotor beside her, Emperor Zarkon in front of them. They were heading to a planet, Lotor had told her before that she would not need to pretend most of the time._

_They exited, she was introduced to two boys about Lotor’s age. Both looking different degrees of horrified at the prince._

_They left Zarkon’s watchful gaze and Lotor immediately removes the chains from her. He explained the situation to the other princes; how she’d been a gladiator and how he saved her by making her his “slave.” They immediately relaxed and introduced themselves as Loki and Thor._

_“So then, if she is your equal and not your property… does that mean we can fight if she wishes to?”_

_The prince looked at her, “If you wish to spar with him you may, Zethrid. Just be sure to stay well out of sight if you do.”_

_She grinned at the blond, “Sounds like fun!” They ran off to go find somewhere quiet, Loki and Lotor following behind. She assumed the other princes were talking about some nerd thing, they’d probably just sit and read the whole time she was fighting._

_Blondie finally found a spot where they could spar in peace. Far away from the palace in a secluded clearing in the forest that the Asgardian swore no one but he and his brother knew about._

_They charged at each other from opposite sides of the clearing. Zethrid had the upper hand for a little and threw him away, but Thor landed on his feet and charged; head butting her in the stomach._

_They continued for a good while until they heard two voices belonging to none other than the two princes they had left in the castle._

_“So we’ve been working on manifesting your energy for a suitable amount of time, I believe we can try making flowers bloom.” Loki was leading Lotor to a circle of flower buds. They didn’t notice Zethrid and Thor at first._

_However once Thor turned to look at them, Loki was quick to retract his hand from Lotor’s. Thor ran over to them, leaving Zethrid seething from the unfinished fight, “Brother! Are you teaching Lotor how to use magic?” He sat down outside the circle of flowers. Zethrid fumed in the background because she knows Thor obviously only did that to avoid getting beaten into the ground._

_Lotor’s hand looked as well it were waiting for Loki’s hand and his face was restraining a look of disappointment, covered by a polite smile. Loki looked annoyed with Thor, his arms crossed. His expression changed quickly to accommodate his plan to get rid of Thor, “Brother, why not show Zethrid the training rooms? I’m sure she’d love a harder challenge with the Warriors Three and Lady Sif.” Thor beamed at Loki’s suggestion and “patted” his back, almost knocking him over from his excitement._

_“You know well why not Thor.” Lotor stated, “My father cannot know that I do not consider her a slave as he believes I do. If she were to be inside it would have to be in the chains I removed previously.”_

_Zethrid grinned and looked at the blond prince, “Cmon Blondie! Don’t tell me you need help just for sparring, I thought you were the strong one!”_

_She could hear Loki muttering under his breath about how amazing it was that there was two of them now, as a smile formed on Thor’s face. “I am Thor Odinson, god of thunder! I need no help with a simple sparring match!”_

_She laughed in his face, “Some god you are! I’ve gotten so many hits in, you had to take a break at one point!”_

_“Well you nearly fell when I walked over here!” Instead of answering him, she punched him into a nearby tree._

_They continued their brawl, moving away from the other two princes in the process._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_Loki sighed in annoyance as they left, Lotor put his hand on his arm, reminding him of why they were there._

_Loki smiled at his touch and put his hand over Lotor’s, “The types of flowers we are working with are from Midgard…”_

_During his lecture, Lotor admired how passionately Loki spoke of what he was told was a beginner’s magic trick.  
Loki bent down to a green plant with spikes and buds all over it, “You must visualize the flower growing into its bloom, touch it delicately.” He looked to Lotor, “This is called the Opuntia. It looks as if it's rough and threatening on the outside, but that is all it is.”_

_Loki picked a bud off, it bloomed into a flower that reminded one of a fire as he stood up to face Lotor. He then tucked it into Lotor’s white hair, staring into his eyes, his face close, “But it has much more to offer, once you see what’s inside, it’s truly breathtaking.”_

_Lotor smiled for a brief moment before he remembered that Loki was taken. He knew Loki and Fandral were happy together… he wouldn’t ruin that just for his own selfish gain. He looked back to the cactus, “It really is stunning.”_

_They continued with the magic lesson from there._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_It was later in the day, nightfall was coming. Lotor was in his assigned quarters in the castle with Zethrid when a servant knocked on the door and left an urgent message that the two need to meet the princes in the north tower’s living quarters. They go immediately._

_Lotor and Zethrid come up to a closed door to hear Loki and Thor arguing, Lotor opens it and Loki’s arm is around Thor’s neck across the room, it looks as if it’s for support since one of his legs is limp. Lotor, once seeing this, proceeds to question, “What happened to you ki- LOKI!?” Lotor starts towards the two as Zethrid closes the door and quickly catches up to him. Thor looks at Lotor with wide eyes and a sad face,“He’s hurt, GET HELP.”_

_It’s too late for the Galrans to react to the smaller of the two princes being launched by the bigger. They both get knocked over, all that is heard is Thor’s delighted chuckling and the resonant yells of the three in motion. It isn’t long before Loki regains his bearings and starts moving to get up until he realizes that his face is only inches away from Lotor’s. He can’t seem to stop peering into Lotor’s eyes, had they always had different stripes of yellow resembling a sunrise or the gold of the castle?_

_The doors slam open to reveal Fandral running through and looking for Loki, “Ástin mín! Are you okay?” Loki snaps from his daze and gets as far away from Lotor as he can at the moment. The rose of his cheeks is hard to miss especially since he is one of the two people on the ground. Unknown to Loki, Lotor is bearing an embarrassing red on his as well._

_Lotor is being helped up by Zethrid as Fandral runs to Loki, “Are you hurt? I heard you cry from the bottom of the tower and I came as soon as I could.”_

_His brows furrow at the sight of the red on his lover’s face when he bends down to take his hand and help him up. He looks around the room to see a blush fading from Lotor’s face._

_“What exactly happened that made you cry out, my Silver Tongue?”_

_Loki is interrupted by Thor who steps towards him._

_“We did ‘Get Help’ on Zethrid and knocked over Prince Lotor in the process.”_

_“Then why are the princes blushing?”_

_Fandral felt an unsought rage building but waited for the answer to act upon it. Thor, blind to his friend’s emotions at the moment, happily rested his hand on Fandral’s shoulder to respond._

_“Ah my brother ended up on top of the prince in an unwanted posit-“_

_The armored man took no time to charge towards the Galran prince and grabbed him by the shoulders._

_“Keep your hands away from my prince.”_

_“He isn’t your prince, he’s Asgard’s prince. You are but a mere warrior who has the honor to be called his lover-”_

_Thor pulls off Fandral from Lotor and Zethrid steps in front of her prince in order to be able to fend off any further attacks. Loki is in between the chaos, processing what had just happened. Thor has his hands on Fandral’s arms, attempting to diffuse the situation from escalating further._

_“My friend you need to calm down, this was done with no intention other than a move used to spar with Lotor’s slave, Zethrid.”_

_Fandral shakes off Thor’s grip, stepping towards Loki with hurt in his eyes._

_“I should have known that this was the reason you were investing all your time in teaching him magic. Abandoning our time together in favor of him because you had said that he had limited time on Asgard, what I didn’t know was that we did too.”_

_Fandral rushes out without another word and slams the door behind him. Loki is visibly distressed and Thor reaches out a hand to comfort him only to have it pushed away. A barely audible whisper comes from him, voice low and full of sorrow._

_“I said I didn’t want to do it.”_

_Loki sprints after his boyfriend, hoping to fix their relationship._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Lotor awoke from his latest round of grief induced slumber and realized he hadn’t eaten in far too long. He knew the generals would bring him food at the next mealtime. But he also realized… he did not want to be alone anymore.

It had been nearly two phoebs since Loki’s death. During this entire time he’d barely had contact with anyone. Yes his generals had come in and attempted to converse with him. But he’d never paid them any mind.

He could not pretend he needed no one any longer.

He got out of bed. Brushed out his hair, took a shower, cleaned himself up. He strode back out to the main part of his room and stared at his armor, but decided to go for something more comfortable for his first outing to relax outside his room.

Lotor walked out in a black turtleneck and some loose jeans. He appeared in the dining room to see Ezor about to head towards his room with a plate of food.

He continued forward, ignoring the generals shocked faces, and took the food and sat down to eat. Once the generals got over their shock, they tried to make a little small talk. Eventually settling into a somewhat comfortable pattern of chatter.

Lotor smiled the tiniest bit, things were finally becoming slightly normal again.


	3. Chapter 3

A fancy gala was being held in Germany. According to the invite Lotor had received at his Earth address, it was a birthday of some sort. He had no idea why he was invited to this event, as he did not really know the sender. But nonetheless, he was there since he had no better plans. Lotor had been on Earth with his generals for a couple months now, to visit places he and Loki had loved to properly mourn and reminisce. 

 

Lotor had left his generals to their own means of entertainment on the night of the party, although Acxa had offered to join him at the party several times as he got ready. He denied her because he knew how much she despised glamouring herself to seem human. And also in part so he could have some time on his own to clear his mind, since he hadn’t really gotten that since Loki died.

 

He came to the event with his white hair pulled back into an elegant low ponytail with a purple ribbon, his suit matching the color with black and gold embroidery. Within his hair was a streak of Loki’s jet black hair braided into it, in accordance with the Asgardian tradition to honor fallen warriors. As Lotor went to the party he thought back to the last big earth party he’d gone to.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

_ Lotor was at a party, currently drink a glass of champagne and thinking about some of the less pleasant aspects on staying on earth for long. Since earth did not partake in much space travel, they used a different currency entirely from anyone else he’d encountered. Which meant he and the generals all needed jobs, when they visited. _

 

_ Normally it would be hard to get jobs without education recognized by the planet, however Lotor had no problem faking degrees; it wasn’t even entirely false as he and Loki had both taken some college classes before. _

 

_ At the moment Lotor was currently an executive for a high end clothing company called Gucci. But he wanted to explore other avenues of his interests on this planet as well. Which at the moment meant a job in technology; because these humans were so slow in that department it almost made him sad. He had to help them advance their tech beyond what it was. But so far it had proven difficult to get a job in the field as the incredibly low level technology tended to frustrate him.  _

 

_ Suddenly shorter man come up next to him, “Are you enjoying the party Mr. Ōzoku?”  _

 

_ Lotor smiled at the man who obviously the host, “Yes I am. Although I have to ask why I was invited Mr. Stark, I’ve never met Ms. Potts nor you before. We work in vastly different are-” _

 

_ The man cut him off, somehow Lotor guessed this was not unusual behavior, “You’re an exec at Gucci right? And you’re in charge of all of their internet stuff and designing new software for the clothing designers right?” _

 

_ “That’s correct… why do you ask?” _

 

_ Tony took a flute of champagne from a passing server, “I’d like to invite you to my lab, I want to see what you have to offer.” _

 

_ Lotor’s eyes widened in surprise and happiness, “Really? Anthony Stark wants a fashion man like me at his company?” Happy as he was there was still a hint of sarcasm in his tone. _

 

_ “Yes, I’d like to see how capable you are, you better be able to do more than let people design pretty shirts.” _

 

_ The conversation was cut short by none other than Ms. Potts herself asking Tony why he was harassing the nice man. Tony seemed about to explain himself but Lotor stopped him, “Do not blame Anthony, Ms. Potts. He was actually offering me a job at his company.” _

 

_ “Not a job offer, just a test. You have to pass first.” Tony snarked. _

 

_ Lotor walked away amused as he heard the beginnings of a rant at Stark. However he cut Pepper off when he turned around, “Worry not Miss Potts, I am more than capable. Contact me when you want to see what I can do Anthony.” _

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

Lotor arrived at the gala, giving his invitation to the man at the front as he entered. He maneuvered around the dancing couples and made his way to the edge of the room, grabbing a drink from a passing waiter as he went. He eventually stopped by the stairs so that he could observe the party and hopefully not be bothered too much.

 

While he was mostly left alone there were a number of young ladies, and one or two young men, who came up to ask him for a dance. He declined most of their offers, but he did accept one dance nearer the end of the night; only so that the generals couldn’t complain about him just remaining antisocial for the whole night.

 

After his dance settled back at his spot by the stairs. He looked over and nearly spat out his drink. Walking down the stairs… was Loki… or at least someone who looked like him. Lotor stared in shock and the figure gracefully making his way through the room. This had to be a hallucination… Loki was dead.

 

Still Lotor held out hope, he followed behind the man watching him. Suddenly the man clubbed someone else with his cane. Then he grabbed another man, bent him over a table and placed some sort of device over the other man’s eye. As everyone else ran out screaming Lotor saw a smirk grace the face of the man who looked like Loki. There was no doubt in his mind now, this had to be Loki. He knew not how he was alive, but he would not question it. He would confront him later, but for now he’d play the part of a civilian to try to figure out what was happening.

 

He ran out of the building, pretending to be like all the civilians around him he tried to go off to the side so he could escape to the hotel with his generals. But Loki appeared in front of the crowd and commanded, “Kneel before me.” The crowd turned in the other direction only to be stopped by another grinning apparition of Loki.

 

As the images of Loki closed in on the crowd he shouted on last time, “I said, KNEEL!!!” Everyone slowly complied and got down on their knees, “Is this not simpler? Is this not your natural state?” He heard Loki asking the crowd… something was not right here… this may be Loki but it was not the Loki he knew.

 

Loki continued on with his speech, “It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation.” What the quiznack was Loki talking about? He would never force submission upon people, certainly not so blatantly.

 

“The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.” While Lotor continued to contemplate what could be going on with Loki, an old man stood somewhere behind him, “Not to men like you.”

 

Lotor could practically hear the grin in Loki’s voice, “There are no men like me.” He had to admire the old man’s courage in speaking against Loki at this moment, “There are always men like you.” Loki chuckled, Lotor looked up and saw him pointing his scepter at the man as it started to glow.

 

“Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example.” Just as the beam of magic shot out from the scepter, a man in red, white, and blue spandex jumped in front of the old man and blocked the blast with a shield. The blast bounced off the shield and knocked Loki down.

 

The man in spandex stood and spoke up, “You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.” Loki stood up, apparently recognizing the man as he spoke, “The soldier. A man out of time.” So that was why he seemed familiar, it was that Captain America person.

 

“I’m not the one who’s out of time.” The Captain said, at which point a jet appeared with machine guns pointed at Loki. Lotor prepared to fight them if need be, he may not particularly want to, but he would not lose Loki again.

 

He heard a feminine voice come from the aircraft, “Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.” Almost before Lotor could process the words Loki had shot a blast at the jet, which had a pilot who just barely managed to dodge the blast. As that happened the Captain threw his shield at Loki and a fight broke out between them.

 

Loki eventually got the upper hand and forced the other man to the ground, “Kneel.”

 

“Not today.” The Captain flipped over, knocking Loki down with his leg. However Loki quickly recovered and di the same to the Captain. Suddenly Lotor saw a man in flying suit of armor come into the fight and shoot Loki in the chest.

 

The suit of armor suddenly had all kinds of guns and rockets appear out of its shell. “Make your move, Reindeer Games.” Loki dematerialized his armor and put his hands in the air. Lotor ignored what the man in the armor said next as he tried to figure out what Loki’s plan could be. He was far stronger than this so obviously he wanted to be captured for some reason.

 

As they took Loki away he called up the generals, “Meet me at the ship. There’s something we need to look into.”

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

Acxa was piloting the ship as Lotor paced in the back. Ezor was the first to speak up, “Lotor, how could this possibly be Loki?! He’s been dead for a year!”

 

“I do not know but I intend to find out.” He stopped his pacing and went to watch out the window, “Any changes yet Acxa?”

 

“Nothing major sir. However there does seem to be a storm outside.” Lotor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he heard Ezor and Zethrid placing a bet on whether or not Thor was the cause. “Both of you please be quiet. Whether or not it is Thor doesn’t matter, what matters is making sure we find out where they’re going and what they’re doing.”

 

Their ship followed closely behind the other without being noticed until a familiar crack of lightning blinded those in the sky. Lotor rushed to the front and watched as Thor manhandled Loki and jumped out of the quinjet. It was just more confirmation that this was really Loki. Lotor’s eyes narrowed with resolve as he ran to the back of the ship.

 

“Sir? Sir- what are you doing?!” The generals called after him but it was too late, Lotor had already jumped. Acxa nosedived quickly in order not to lose him.

 

“Yo, Tony jumped out of their jet too…” Ezor said as she stared out of the window, “And there goes the blue one-” She turned to Zethrid, “His name’s Steve Rogers right?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Where is the tesseract?” Thor’s voice furious as he stared at his brother who did nothing but laugh in return after a groan from being thrown to the ground.

 

“I missed you too.”

 

“Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!”

 

Loki lifted his head and started to get up, “Oh, you should thank me. With the bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth-”

 

Loki was barely halfway up when Thor dropped Mjolnir to grab Loki to look in closely, disbelief from his eyes fading away and replaced with a look only family could give. Loki was indifferent.

 

“I thought you dead.”

 

“Did you mourn?”

 

“We all did. Our father-”

 

Loki raised his finger to interrupt.

 

“Your father. He did tell you of my true parentage, did he not?”

 

Thor loosened his grasp and Loki took the opportunity to walk away from him. Pleading, Thor called after him; “We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?”

 

Loki turned around, his hand on the small of his back to ease the pain of being thrown.

 

“I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness,” His voice grew louder with each word he spoke, “I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I who was and should be king!”

 

“So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights.” Thor walked towards an offended Loki, “No, the Earth is under my protection Loki.”

 

Loki laughed again, “And you’re doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you idly threat. I mean to rule them. And why should I not?”

 

“You think yourself above them.” 

 

Loki deadpanned at the man in front of him, “Well, yes.”

 

“Then you miss the truth of ruling brother. Throne would suit you ill.”

 

Angrily, Loki shoves his brother to the side and walks back up the ledge, “I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known about! I have grown-” He turns to say the next words with a bite, “-Odinson, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it-”

 

“Who showed you this power?” Thor steps towards Loki, “Who controls the would-be-king?”

 

Infuriated, Loki shouts, “I AM A KING!” to which Thor grabs his arms to yell back, “Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!” 

 

His voice softens and he moves his left hand to the back of Loki’s neck, “You come home.”

 

A defeated chuckle, “I don’t have it.” Thor backs away in anger to summon Mjolnir, “You need the cube to send me home, but I’ve sent it off I know not where.”

 

Thor raises Mjolnir to threaten, “You listen well brother-” Thor is replaced with a view of the mountains as Ironman tackles and takes him down the mountains to which Loki replies, “I’m listening.”

 

Ironman and Thor crash into the forest. Thor rolls himself up and Ironman stands a safe distance away, his helmet opens.

 

“Do not touch me again!”

 

“Then don’t take my stuff.”

 

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

 

Tony, amused by Thor and his theatrics, decides to have fun, “Shakespeare in the park?” He smiles and gestures towards Thor, “Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?”

 

Obviously Thor was not happy, “This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice!”

 

“He gives up the cube, he’s all yours.” Tony’s helmet closes again and he starts to walk away from Thor. “Until then, stay out of the way…. Tourist” Mjolnir is thrown at Ironman at the last remark.

 

Back on the mountain, Loki sits down to watch the show but is interrupted by a soft voice from behind him, “Loki? Is that really you?”

 

Loki whips towards Lotor, confusion and pain noted in his voice, “Lotor? How did you find me?” Loki gets up to touch him but stops before he could, a steely demeanor replaces the curious, almost sad tone he had before. “No… you’re just another fake. Must you really continue with these games now?” 

 

Lotor is filled with heartache as he hugs Loki who doesn’t hug back. Lotor’s voice is shaky, vibrating against Loki’s body, “Thor told me you were dead. Can you imagine how stupefied I was when you came down the stairs? How I watched as you commanded the crowd outside?”

 

Lotor pulled back to cup his face, his thumbs rubbing against pale cheeks as his voice breaks, “It’s really you-“ 

 

Loki pushed himself out of Lotor’s grasp and walked past him to the tip of the ledge to watch the fight below, his arms crossed, “This is far too cruel at this point. Can you stop with the illusions? I’ve grown tired of this false hope you instill in me whenever you use Lotor against me.”

 

Lotor felt like crying, “But Loki, it’s me,” he touched his shoulder, attempting to convince him that he was real but his hand was shrugged off. 

 

“You haven’t any idea how much I missed you? How much I longed it to be not true that you perished at the abyss? I’ve longed for this moment ever since I was told of your death and-”

 

Loki raised a hand to interrupt, “Must you continue this game? I know that Lotor is not coming for me, so please just drop this facade and face me as you are.” Loki thought his tormentor would drop the act at least and get on with whatever he planned. But instead, the vision combed its fingers through Loki’s hair to leave behind a flower crown and then let its hand rest on Loki’s cheek.

 

“Please Loki. I am no vision. You do not need to stay here, we can leave. Together. I can help y-” Loki chuckled and pulled away from the thing wearing Lotor’s face, taking off the crown to examine it as he went.

 

“Why do you think I would believe you now? You have been doing this same act for months. Do you honestly think some little flowers will sway me to believe you?” The other looked as if it were shocked and hurt… almost as if it actually was Lotor. The other took a step towards him, “Loki, please. This is not like you. Just, tell me what happened, where you were during this time.”

 

Loki discarded the flower crown, “You know well where I was foul creature, now either tell me what you want or leave.” Before either of them could continue speaking, Thor, the Soldier, and the Metal Man flew onto the cliff with them.

 

“C’mon Reindeer Games, party’s over. Say bye to the space elf.”

 

Loki whirled around to face the man in the metal suit, “You mean to you can see him too?” Thor brightened upon seeing who it was, “Lotor! How great to see you here, my friend!” Thor put a hand on the man’s shoulder, which he quickly removed after a glare from Lotor.

 

Meanwhile, Loki was backing away; hands gripping his hair while he shook his head. “No, no, no, no. You can’t be real. Why would you come now?! Just when I’m about to get everything.”

 

He backed into the rocks behind him, “Brother, please calm down!” But Loki could not hear him, he slid down the rocks, still muttering to himself about what he perceived to be fake.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

The four men stood around Loki and watched his panic, unsure what to do to help. Lotor had an idea, he muttered a short incantation and waved his hand. Loki fell to the ground, limp, eyes closed. While he was finally resting, he did not seem peaceful.

 

“Lotor! What did you do to him!” Thor shouted, raising his hammer at the man in question. He put up his hands in defense, “I merely cast a sleeping spell on him. He will awake once we reach wherever it is they were taking him before.”

 

The Captain and the armored man spoke at once, “You were following us?”

 

Lotor rolled his eyes, “Telling someone to someone to follow the ship with quintessence levels seen only in magical beings radiating off of it is not hard to do. Now come on, I do believe we all have somewhere we need to be.”


	4. Love versus Loyalties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Lotor are both aboard the Helicarrier. One as a prisoner, the other as a possible ally who is not fully trusted.
> 
> But when their loyalties clash, what will happen to them?

The two ships arrive at the Helicarrier. Lotor steps off of his ship with the generals following close behind. All of the Galra in their original form since these humans are aware of alien life. They’re led to a conference table inside.

 

Meanwhile dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D police escort a smiling and handcuffed Loki through the halls. His eyes staring at Bruce Banner as they pass by the lab he’s working in, he nods and smiles towards him as the scientist looked up from the scepter he was working on. Banner rubs his head in thought.

 

Loki is free from handcuffs but now confined in a large glass cell held by hydraulic rigs. Nick Fury walks up to the control panel of the cell.

 

“In case it’s unclear, you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass-”

A button is pressed which opens a hatch underneath the cell, Loki peers as much as he can from the glass. The sounds of gusting wind fills the room but Fury yells over it to address his prisoner, “Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?!”

 

He closes the hatch and points to Loki, “Ant.” He gestures to the control panel, “Boot.”

 

Loki smirks at the man who is clearly feeling confident in his threats and laughs, “It’s an impressive cage,” he looks around himself, “Not built, I think, for me.”

 

“Built for something a lot stronger than you.”

 

“Oh, I’ve heard.”

 

Loki looks into the camera. On the other side, the others watch the monitor Loki getting interrogated, all very interested but Banner the most at the moment.

 

“The mindless beast, makes play he’s still a man.” He turns to Fury, “How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?”

 

“How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can’t hope to control.  You talk about peace and you kill ‘cause it’s fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.”

 

Loki furrows his brows, “Ooo. It burns you to have come so close, To have the Tesseract, to have power,” He lifts his chin up, “Unlimited power.”

 

“And for what?” He smiles and turns to face the camera, “A warm light for all mankind to share,” Loki turns back to Fury, “And then to be reminded what real power is.”

 

Fury smiles and turns to walk away, “Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Steve watches until the monitor goes black. Thor, who just listened, stands there, torn apart. Lotor closes his eyes and takes in deep breaths. All who witnessed the encounter, stand in stunned silence, their breathing all to be heard.

 

“He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” Banner’s voice fills the room.

 

Steve turns to Thor, “Loki’s gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what’s his play?”

 

Thor returns to the conversation, “He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

 

“An army? From outer space?” Steve asked seriously, his eye flicking to Lotor. Lotor eyes the soldier and then Thor for reassurance that he was welcome if that was their reaction to aliens.

 

“So he’s building another portal. That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for,” Banner interjects.

 

Thor looks to Banner from Lotor, “Selvig?”

 

“He’s an astrophysicist.” Banner said, assuming Thor was confused.

 

“He’s a friend.”

 

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours,” Natasha looks glumly to the table.

 

“I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here,” Steve spoke with an eyebrow raised.

 

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him.”

 

Thor defended Loki before Lotor could, “Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he’s my brother.” Lotor merely nodding alongside him, these people did not need to know why he cared so much for Loki.

 

“He’s killed eighty people in two days.” Natasha deadpanned.

 

“He’s adopted.”

 

Lotor spoke for the first time, “He is not himself. When I approached him on the mountain, he didn’t think me real. He began to panic when he realized I was.”

 

Bruce ignored Lotor, “Iridium, what did they need the iridium for?”

 

Two voices replied, belonging to Tony and Lotor, “It’s a stabilizing agent.”

 

Tony continued to speak to Coulson, “I’ll fly you there. Keep the love alive.” Coulson walks off and Tony continues talking to the room, “Means the portal won’t collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D.”

 

Tony turned to Thor, “No hard feelings, Point Break. You’ve got a mean swing,” He walks by Thor and taps his muscled arm. “Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long as Loki wants.”

 

Tony walks towards the main controls of the Helicarrier, “Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails,” He points to someone working, “That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn’t notice. But we did.” 

 

He covers an eye and looks to the controls, “How does Fury do this?”

 

Agent Hill answers, “He turns.”

 

Tony looks around the monitors and places a button sized hacking implant under Fury’s desk without anyone noticing, “Well, that sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube.”

 

Agent Hill looked to Tony with curious eyes, “When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?

 

Tony smiled, “Last night. The packet, Selvig’s notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”

 

Lotor raised a hand to show that he did. Tony eyes him, he knows he recognizes the man, his face structure and build, but he can’t place a name because as far as he knows, he’s never encountered a purple alien.

 

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve interjected.

 

“He’s got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.” Banner answers.

 

Tony continues, “Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.”

 

Banner answers, “Well, if he could do that could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet.”

 

Tony smiles joyously at Banner, “Finally someone who speaks English.”

 

Bruce and Tony shake hands and a mutual respect solidifies between them. “It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

 

Bruce looks down, “Thanks.”

 

Nick Fury walks in, “Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him.”

 

Tony nodded and gestured towards Lotor, “I’d have to invite this man along since he has read the papers as well.”

 

Lotor smiled and looked down, “This man? I’m surprised Mr. Stark.” Lotor turned to his human form of olive skin and purple eyes, his purple Altean marks on his cheeks (he passed them off as tattoos). Lotor decided to leave his guise since he grew tired of the stares he’d get from the humans onboard.

 

Tony’s eyes widened, “I’ve been working with you fo months now and you never cared to mention that you were an alien?”

 

Thor wrapped an arm around Lotor, “He’s a great friend to both I and Loki due to our fathers’ peace treaties.”

 

Tony put two and two together quickly, “And an alien prince at that?”

 

Lotor grinned, “You never asked nor brought it up Mr. Stark, besides why would my parentage be important when working?”

 

Steve, wanting to return the focus back to the problem, spoke, “Let’s start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a H.Y.D.R.A. weapon.”

 

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.” Fury answered.

 

“Monkeys? I do not understand.” Thor’s eyebrows furrowed in thought.

 

Steve jumped up happily, “I do!” He straightened himself out but couldn’t fight back a smile, “I understood that reference.” 

 

Tony rolls his eyes, while Steve looks proud of himself. Tony turns to Lotor and Bruce, “Shall we play?”

 

“Let’s play some,” The three of the men walk out, the GALAGA player from earlier furns ever so discreetly, watches as everyone else disperses and goes back to playing.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It is a few hours later in Banner’s lab, all three of the men are working; Bruce is continuously scanning with a gamma ray detection scanner on the scepter for radiation, Tony looks at his monitors, shifting and solving a many algorithms and equations, Lotor works on a couple of devices that would help both Tony and Bruce.

 

Tony had been shocked when he first saw Lotor donning the glamour, obviously not having realized that his sometimes employee was an alien who was friends with gods. Lotor had, however, dropped the human guise he had once they were alone in the lab, in order to focus all his energy on his work, thankfully both Bruce and Tony had not minded. He had changed from his formal wear from last night to a simple white button up, his sleeves rolled to his elbows, and black dress pants. His hair was held in a neat low bun to keep out of his face.

 

“The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports on the Tesseract. But it’s gonna take weeks to process.”

 

“If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops.” Tony answers and turns to Lotor, “Think you can speed this up?” Lotor nods and offers his hand to Tony’s monitor to which Tony steps aside.

 

“All I packed was a toothbrush.”

 

Tony smiles and walks to Bruce, “You know, you should come by Stark Towers sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You’d love it, it’s candy land, just ask Lotor, he helped with most of the tech.”

 

Bruce smiled nervously, “Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke… Harlem.”

 

“Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises.” Suddenly, Tony pokes Bruce with a miniature electrical prod, “Ow!” 

 

Steve walks in on them, pissed at Tony. Lotor looks to the soldier, weary, he turns human again.

 

Tony leans towards Bruce’s face closely, “Nothing?”

 

“Hey! Are you nuts?”

 

Tony walks around the table, still facing Dr. Banner, “You really have got a lid on it, haven’t you? What’s your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?”

 

In the background, Lotor was fighting a smile at his employer’s antics and pretending to work on the screen as to avoid whatever conversation Steve was to have. After a second of pretending, he decided to work on the hack that Tony that told him to help speed up earlier..

 

“Is everything a joke to you?”

 

“Funny things are.”

 

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny. No offence, doctor.”

 

“No, it’s alright. I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things.”

 

“You’re tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut,” Tony glided across the room to Lotor.

 

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.” Steve crossed his arms like a father getting mad at his kids.

 

“You think I’m not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables.” 

 

“You think Fury’s hiding something?”

 

“He’s a spy. Captain, he’s _the_ _spy_. His secrets have secrets.” Tony points to Bruce, “It’s bugging him too, isn’t it?”

 

Bruce bobbles the words out of his mouth, reluctant, “Uh… I just wanna finish my work here and…”

 

“Doctor?” Cap looks to Dr. Banner.

 

“A warm light for all mankind, Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube.”

 

“I heard it.”

 

Banner points to Tony, “Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn’t post that all over the news.”

 

“The Stark Tower? That big ugly-” Tony and Lotor shoot Steve a warning look, “... building in New York?”

 

“It’s powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?”

 

“That’s just the prototype. I’m kind of the only name in clean energy right now.”

 

“So, why didn’t S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?”

 

“I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secure files,” Tony grabs a bag of blueberries and starts to open them.

 

Steve is taken aback, “I’m sorry, did you say…?”

 

“Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge and Lotor is working on it right now,” Lotor dropped his hands from the screen and walked back to the devices he was working on earlier. 

 

“In a few hours we’ll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide,” Tony pops a couple blueberries in his mouth and holds the bag to Steve, “Blueberry?”

 

Steve declines and Tony holds it out to Bruce who grabs a couple, he then walks to Lotor to offer him some, “Yet you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around?”

 

“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome.”

 

“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.” Lotor looks defensively to Steve but he doesn’t notice because all his focus is on Tony.

 

“Following is not really my style.”

 

Steve smiles, “And you’re all about style, aren’t you?”

 

The comment hits a nerve, “Of the people in this room. Which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?”

 

Banner tries to defuse the situation, “Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?”

 

Steve takes in the possibility, but as an obedient soldier, shakes if off.

 

“Just find the cube,” Steve walks out of the lab, torn apart from the possibility, he walks towards the hull of the ship.

 

Back in the lab, Tony looked to Lotor who he’d complained about his father to all the time, “That’s the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn’t have kept him on ice.” Lotor nodded in agreement.

 

“The guy’s not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us,” Bruce  works on a monitor.

 

“What he’s got is an ACME dynamite kit,” Tony walks across the room, “It’s gonna blow up in his face, and I’m gonna be there when it does.”

 

Lotor cleared his throat, Tony looked to him, “Sorry, I know he’s your friend.”

 

“And I’ll read all about it.”

 

“Uh-huh. Or you’ll be suiting up like the rest of us.”

 

“Ah, see. I don’t get a suit of armor. I’m exposed, like a nerve. It’s a nightmare.”

 

Tony looked away from the monitor he was working on, “You know, I’ve got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart.” He points to the mini-arc reactor in his chest as he walks towards Bruce , “This stops it. This little circle of light. It’s a part of me now, not just armor. It’s a… terrible privilege.”

 

“But you can control it,” Bruce points at him through the screen.

 

“Because I learned how.”

 

“It’s different,” Bruce tries to read the computer screen but Tony slides the data aside.

 

Unnoticed, Lotor slips out of the lab as Tony and Bruce have this conversation. He continues with his glamor as to not attract attention as he makes his way towards the cell room that Loki is in. Lotor allows the glamor to wear off. Loki is pacing but at the sound of the door opening, turns to see who came in. A bored look is replaced by one of chagrin.

 

Loki looks down from Lotor, “Why do you play at attempts to stop me?”

 

“I thought you dead and all you have to say to me is ‘why?’ Do you know how broken I’ve been over your death for the past decaphoeb?” Lotor was a few steps away from the glass.

 

Loki sighed with a sad look on his face, “I had planned to look for you afterwards. To show you what I had accomplished. To show you that I was truly capable of all I wished.”

 

Lotor’s voice cracked, “So is that all I am to you? An afterthought? I’ve spent thousands of decaphoebs with you and now this conquest for the planet Earth is your primary goal? Do you really think so little of me as to believe conquering this planet would impress me? What about all the time we’ve spent together? Did all those memories teach you nothing about me? You teaching me magic, our moments in the garden, that dance at the ball? Those mean nothing to you?!”

 

Loki’s face hardened, “I have to do this Lotor. To prove all of them wrong.” Loki’s face was close to the glass, as he remembered Zarkon taking Lotor away. Because Loki was a weakness for his son.

 

“You needn’t prove anything. Please see sense Loki, stop this. We can leave here, go far away from anything we know.” Lotor wished the glass were not there so that he could do more to comfort his love.

 

“If you don’t get why I’m doing this, perhaps you don’t know me as well as you thought. This is for us. They will see my strength and no one will go against us.” Loki stood up and turned away from Lotor. 

 

Lotor looked broken, “Then explain to me why. Why do you pull away? Why do you not end this madness for me if I am the one you are doing it for?”

 

Loki refused to answer, “Very well then.”

 

It’s silent until the sound of the door closing fills the room. Loki is left alone. Unknown to each other, both princes curled up upon themselves and cried. Why couldn’t the other understand they had to do this?


End file.
